Twice upon a time in Prague

By Frank Kuznik, 25 October 2015

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Reviewed at National Theatre (Národní divadlo), Prague on 22 October 2015

Stravinsky, Le Rossignol (The Nightingale)

Tchaikovsky, Iolanta

Czech National Opera and Chorus

Jan Latham-Koenig, Conductor

Dominik Beneš, Director

Martin Černý, Set Designer

Zuzana Přidalová, Costume Designer

Olga Jelínková, Nightingale

Yukiko Kinjo, Cook

Stanislava Jirků, Death

Josef Moravec, Fisherman, Alméric

Pavel Švingr, Chamberlain, Bertrand

Jan Šťáva, Bonze

Aleš Jenis, Emperor, Robert

Veronika Dzhioeva, Iolanta

Aljaž Farasin, Vaudémont

Yevhen Shokalo, King René

Yvona Škvárová, Martha

Vladimir Chmelo, Ibn-Hakia

Prague National Theatre Orchestra

A disappointing Cunning Little Vixen in Prague

Frank Kuznik, 29th April

The National Theatre in Prague should be the second-best place in the world to see Leoš Janáček's charming opera The Cunning Little Vixen. But its current production, new in the repertoire this season, is such a disappointment.

***11

Singing carries the show in new Prague Ballo

Frank Kuznik, 5th October

The National Theatre opens its new season with a Verdi favorite short on substance but lovely to hear.

***11

Diamonds and steel: Anna Pirozzi rules in La Scala’s Turandot revival

Laura Servidei, 12th April

Visually enchanting and meticulously staged, this centenary revival confirms Livermore's production as a modern classic.

****1

Regents Opera’s Salome lands a knockout punch at York Hall

Mark Pullinger, 10th April

Mark Ravenhill directs a brutal, bloody Salome for Regents Opera at the spiritual home of British boxing, York Hall.

****1

Art imitates art in ETO’s bracing new Pagliacci

Dominic Lowe, 10th April

Divorced from Cavalleria rusticana, English Touring Opera’s contemporary take on Leoncavallo’s masterpiece ticks all the boxes.

****1

Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno returns to Rome

Pia Maltri, 7th April

Robert Carsen’s staging of Handel's oratorio arrives, via Salzburg, in the city where Handel composed it in 1707.

****1

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Frank Kuznik

Frank Kuznik is the former Editor-in-Chief and Culture Editor of The Prague Post, Central Europe’s premier English-language weekly newspaper. He currently divides his time between Prague and his hometown in the US, Cleveland, where he covers northeast Ohio's dynamic classical music scene. In Prague he is an habitué of the Rudolfinum, National Theater, State Opera and other storied classical music venues, and an unabashed fan of Czech music.

Twice upon a time: Le Rossignol and Iolanta in Prague